Uncovered - Illustrating the Sixties and Seventies

1964, acrylic on board

Fontana Books reprinted Alistair MacLean’s 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous in 1964.  The macho hero raises a gun, he is dressed in white on a white background, so the red-clad woman he is protecting draws the eye. 

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1967, acrylic on board,  40 cm wide x 34 cm tall

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The artwork is sold with an original Fear is the Key paperback that features the Fratini illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

c.1965, gouache, pencil on board,  32 cm wide x 55 cm tall

This cover illustration for a reprint of George's Arnaud's bestselling existential thriller Le Salaire de la Peur, relies on a compilation of publicity stills from the acclaimed film version of the novel, Wages of Fear, which was a critical and box office smash.  When it was released in Europe in 1953 Henri-Georges Clouzot's film won the Palm D'Or, Golden Bear and BAFTA for Best Film.  The film launched Yves Montand's career in America.  He can be seen here on the right alongside fellow French actor Charles Vanel.

The original painting is approximately 32 cm wide x 55 cm tall.The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

c.1960s, acrylic and pencil and board,  39 cm wide x 55 cm tall

Above Suspicion, a 1941 novel by Helen MacInnes was made into a film in 1943, starring Joan Crawford.  This is an example of how De Gaspari often used blocks of colour to focus his cover illustrations and his distinctive experiments with texture: layering different types of paper and sometimes even scratching the surfaces or rubbing sand into images.

The artwork is sold with an original Above Suspicion paperback that features the De Gaspari illustration.  

The original painting is approximately 39 cm wide x 55 cm tall.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. 

Coppola packed contrasting artwork and photography tight for the cover illustration of C.P. Snow’s debut novel, first published in 1932. In this way, he reflected the claustrophobia and paranoia of the narrative; characters trapped in an isolated cottage with a potential killer.

The artwork is sold with an original Death Under Sail paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 26 cm wide x 35 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. \

Penguin’s 1966 reprint of C.P. Snow’s 1956 novel is a perfect example of Coppola’s use of montage, creating crisp graphic lines out of textured art work and high contrast black and white photography set on arresting primary colours.

The artwork is sold with an original Homecomings paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 26 cm wide x 35 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. 

A Perry Mason novel written by Erle Stanley Gardner in 1949, reprinted in 1966 by Penguin, gets the same modernist approach as Coppola’s covers for literary novels. The democratising effect of abstracting pulp imagery elevates a pulp-fiction novel, just as it makes the high-brow more accessible.

The artwork is sold with an original The Case Of The Half-Wakened Wife paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 27 cm wide x 40 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1966, mixed media,  25 cm wide x 37 cm tall

A Perry Mason novel written by Erle Stanley Gardner in 1943 and made into a film in 1935. Coppola applies his modernist approach to the pulp novel and, inspired by legendary art director Germano Facetti, elevates it to sit easily alongside Penguin’s classic literary fiction. The montage of jarring, mismatched imagery, creates an uneasy composition which has much in common with fine-art abstraction.

The artwork is sold with an original The Case of the Curious Bride paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 25 cm wide x 37 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

1966, mixed media

Copolla was commissioned by legendary Penguin art director Germano Facetti and under his guidance was inspired to create a series of ground breaking covers. 

A cold war thriller written in 1952 by Paul Gallico is modernised by Penguin in 1966. Jarring colour, broken perspective and clustered layers of precise draughtsmanship highlight the story of a mistaken spy broken by brainwashing and interrogation.

The artwork is sold with an original Trial by Terror paperback that features the Coppola illustration.  

The original painting art board is approximately 25 cm wide x 39 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size approximately 59.5 cm tall X 42 cm wide 

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; c.1960s, acrylic on board

Cover illustration for a later edition of the novel "Murder In Moscow" first published in 1951 by Collins. Andrew Garve is one of the pen names of Paul Winterton, accomplished journalist and founder member of the Crime Writers Association. This was Winterton's own favourite of his novels. 

The illustration reduces the story to its essence - as do all Robertson's illustrations in this style. Character and dramatic conflict were often represented in the simple, careful juxtaposition of highly detailed objects on a plain background. He offered tempting clues to the narrative, rather than drawing on an explicit moment or theme.

The original painting is approximately 36 cm wide x 58 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work; acrylic on board, c.1965

Written by William Sansom in 1961, the influential 1963 film made of the book was a style-setter.  It featured Vidal Sassoon’s innovative re-styling of Nancy Kwan’s famous long hair; which launched the geometric version of Mary Quant’s bob, along with fashion design by Quant herself.  Fratini’s illustration acknowledges the fashion moment but also portrays the narrative of a woman looking for love, naturalistically and with a bitter-sweet tone.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting, acrylic on board, c.1962

Glendon Swarthout’s self-confessed ‘big book’ about a little town in Michigan was published in 1962. Though a more melodramatic image was eventually used for the cover, this version by Fratini uses introspective figures and symbols of authority set against a burning yellow background to imply violent secrets lurking below the town’s composed surface. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. 

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting; gouache on board, c.1965, 

Cover illustration for the novel by critically acclaimed author Erskine Caldwell.  Briefly married to the eminent photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White, Caldwell did not shy away from exposing the poverty, racism and other social ills endemic in the South of the US during the 20^th century. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall. 

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original painting; acrylic on board, 1965

Julius Horwitz’s novel, The Inhabitants, was written in 1960 and published by Four Square Books in 1965.  Fratini used a deep red to depict the struggle of a single mother fighting her way out of New York’s slums.  He sets the protagonist in a powerful pose against a group of figures left behind. The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 55 cm tall.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 59.5 cm X 42 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original work; 1967, acrylic on board

Alistair MacLean’s 1961 thriller was republished by Fontana Books in 1967. Fratini depicted the ‘steel jungle’ oil-platform setting of the novel on a choppy ocean. The story of revenge is expressed in the struggle of the couple in the foreground.

The original painting art board is approximately 40 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42cm X 29.7cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

1966, original artwork

Fratini's cover for Mickey Spillane's 'The Flier' published by Corgi Books in 1967 was later used for the cover of 'The Sour Lemon Score'.

Donald E. Westlake wrote 'The Sour Lemon Score', one of his ‘Parker’ series under the pseudonym of Richard Stark in 1969. Fratini's illustration was used on a Danish publication of the story in a raunchier style than those produced for English versions.

The painting is classic Fratini, provocative poses in a setting reduced to stylistic bare-bones.

The original painting art board is approximately 30 cm wide x 38 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Prints

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42 cm X 29.7 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; 1964, acrylic on board

Fontana Books reprinted Alistair MacLean’s 1962 novel The Golden Rendezvous in 1964.  The macho hero raises a gun, he is dressed in white on a white background, so the red-clad woman he is protecting draws the eye. 

The original painting art board is approximately 45 cm wide x 34 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.

Lever Gallery Print

Professional high-resolution scan, colour adjusted to closely represent original artwork. Giclée print on 100% Cotton Rag ‘Hahnemühle’ 308gsm Fine Art Paper, using archival pigmented inks.

Paper size 42 cm X 29.7 cm  

If you have any questions regarding this edition please email info@levergallery.com

Original artwork; 1967, acrylic on board

The cover for this Corgi Crime 1967 publication of Mickey Spillane’s novel, features quintessential Fratini.  A couple, a struggle, a gun; cheekily posed and skilfully painted with emphasis.  The groovy, colour-soaked fashion nods to the next decade.

The original painting art board is approximately 30 cm wide x 38 cm tall. The artwork is float mounted on to conservation grade mountboard and presented in a white wooden box frame glazed with anti-reflective glass.